Shingle



H. ABRAHAM Nov. 18, 1952 SHINGLE Filed Oct. 26, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 18, 1952 SHINGEE .Herbert Abraham, New York,.,N..:Y., assignorto The Bohemia-$0., N ew. Yc'rk,..N.-Y,,, a corporationof-New Jersey 'Applica-tiomoctbbef 26, 195.0,ESerial- No;192,254

(Cl.v 108-7 .3'Claims. i1

Tl nsnpinventionrelates to a shingle and': more specifically to; an improved interlocking Teshaped shingle; of the :kind commonly knowni-as 'asn yasphaltor composition shingle, which shingle .is cut. froma sheetiof feltedimaterialsaturated and coated 1 with asphaltic :or bituminous compositions,. andusually faced on-the weather surface with mineral granules .101 particles.

Theqshinglesof the present inventionareof the type or class known in the.industryassinglecoverage shingles. ,Suchshingles are ordinarily used 1 to re-roof old constructions without the necessity of removing the former covering :or roofing. When the; shingles are applied in interlocked relation they provide a weather andwaterproof covering of which a substantial portionis covered with one layer.

There are certain characteristics,.in-addition to-weather and water resistance, that a suitable commercial shingle should have, namely:

(1) From the standpoint of economy they should (a) require the minimum amount of material to cover a square, or 100 square feet of roof area, with the maximum extent of exposed area; (b) they'should be able to :cut from:sheets of roofing material made from convenient widths of dry felt with a minimum amount ofwaste; and, (c) the application cost should below in the number of shingles-requiredto .be applied per square, in the quantity .ofnails required to afiix'the shingles, and, moreover, the ,shingles should be self-aligningso asto avoid the'necessity ofmarking chalk lines on the roof ascgui-desfor laying.

(2) From the standpoint of safety the shingles when applied in interlocked relation should; (a) have the maximum resistance to unlockingoi' disengagement of thelocking tab of'any'shingle from an adjacent shingle due to winds of high velocity, or against having the exposed butts raised unduly bywind-pressures; (b) the shingles should provide ample headlap to avoid leakage and to permit the nails that secure the shingles of the next upper course to pass through the underlying shingles; and, (c) the nailing points shouldbe located sufficiently inward from'the lateral edges of the overlying shingles to prevent tearing under high wind pressures, also to prevent leakage of water through the nailholes.

.(3) The form of the shingles should besuch that when laid in-interlocked relation the =-roof covering so formed will have an attractive appearance.

The principal object of the invention is to'provide a substantially T-shaped interlocking shingle. of the single-coverage typelhaving .the:;fore-.

mg characteristics and that is extremely economical in respect to the net amount of material required per square ofroof area. The 'form and:proportions are such that when the shingles are laid'to form substantially -Tshaped exposure patterns, over half of the entire roof area will be covered with only a single layer of shingle material. nomical of material than any comparable shingle ofthesame type of which I am aware.

.Having-reference to the accompanying draw- Fig.1 is -a plan view of a-shingle embodying one form of the invention,

Fig. 2 is a plan view "of several of'such shingles as applied, in interlocked relation, to airoof,

Fig.3 is a plan view of a'modified-form of the shingle,

.Fig. 4 is a plan-view of several of the shingles of the form of Fig. 3 applied to a roof,

Fig. .5 ,is a plan viewof another modifiedform of. the shingle, and,

.Fig. 6 is a plan view of a-number of shingles .of themodified ,formof Fig.. 5, as laid.

.While. the several species of the invention differ somewhat in form, one from anothen-they have the same basic structure, and effect the same economyof material.

Each form of shingle comprises a head portion l0, anlintermediate portion II, a shank portion [12,.and' locking tabs l3--l3 projecting laterally from the butt H or lower end of .the shank portion ..of the shingle. vIn eachform the locking tabs leach have an inclined upper-edge l5, and each shingle at its intermediate portion, has a step or shoulder HSv at each side under which step or shoulder the locking tabs of adjacent-shingles are insertedto interlock the shingles. Said steps or ..sh0u1ders each have a-lateral edge H, which is preferablya straight, vertical line, equalin height. to the vertical distance from the butt I4 tothespoint 24.

.Anessential feature of the invention is that in each. form the width 'ofthe shingle is reduced from .the head II] to the shank l2 portion with;

but a single intermediate step l6.

"In each form the head portion Ill may have an extension l8 at its upper end that serves to The shingle is considerably more eco-' other, the sides of the two will interfit except for the extension 18. This permits of cutting two rows of shingles across a sheet of conventional width with only slight waste along the' longitudinal edges occasioned by cutting inward adjacent the butts l4 so that their edges will be free from the coating and granules that normally extend over the edges of the sheet. Since the top edge I9 is concealed when laid it is unnecessary that that edge be free from coating and granules.

' Having reference now specifically to the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that side edges I! of the intermediate portion'are each connected at its upper end by a horizontal edge to the corresponding side edge 2| of the head portion, and at its lower endby a horizontal edge 22 to the corresponding side edge 23 of the shank portion; The edges 20 and 22 are of the same lengths, each being one-half the width of the shank l2. With this construction, as will be seen, and as has heretofore been stated, the shingle is reduced from its widest to its narrowest portion in a single step.

When the shingles are laid, as indicated in Fig. 2, the inner angle or crotch 24 of the tabs I 3 of one shingle will be interlocked or interengaged with the angle or corner 25 of two adjacent shingles of the next lower course, the shingles being so proportioned as to permit of such interlocking. On reference to the drawings it will be seen that the shingles are selfaligning in that the edges 2| abut the correspondin edges of adjacent shingles, thus facilitating rapid application. I

In applying the shingles two nails 26 are driven in each shingle at the position shown to afford the greatest resistance against tearing of the material around the nails. As seen in. Figs. 2, 4. and 6, the nails 26 of any one shingle penetrate through the headlap extensions 18 of the two underlying shingles. Inthis manner, although only two nails are driven into each shingle, as it is applied, the ultimate eifect is that each shingle is fastened at four points, two of these points being where the nails are driven into the shingle, and the other two points being where 23' .(both measured horizontally) is the same,; each distance being one-half the-width of the shank. r I

The modified form illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 has edges 3| and 32, ofmutually reversed sigmoid curvature, and of the same lengths, connecting the edges H with the edges 2| and 23,

4 respectively. In this instance also the horizontal distance from I! to 2|, and from I! to 23, are each equal to one-half the width of the shank. Shingles of the form and proportions described. when laid as shown, form a roof covering having substantially T-shaped exposure patterns. and of which about 54% of the entire exposed area consists of only a single layer or thickness of shingle material. This efiects' a marked economy of material and reduction in cost. The saving will be apparent on comparing the present shingle with the one described and claimed in Patent No. 2,050,218, of August 4, 1946, which is also a-single-coverage shingle forming T- shaped patterns when laid. With the shingles of said patent the extent of roof surface covered with a single thickness is only about 38.7%, considerably less than half. Furthermore, my improved shingles require a net amount of only about 154 square feet of material per square" as compared with a net amount of about 173 square feet per square of said patented shingle.

The preferred dimensions of the shingle are: over-all width of the head portion, twenty-four inches; width of the intermediate portion, sixteen inches; width of the shank portion, eight inches; over-all height of the shingle, eighteen and onehalf inches including the headlap extension 18 of one inch height and the step-edge I! one and a half inch height. i

With shingles of these dimensions, having an eight inch butt exposure, it requires only seventyfive shingles to cover each "square of roof surface, the exposed area per shingle being about I92 square inches. 7

I have found that with shingles made of standard asphalt roofing material, of the class weighing about pounds per 100 square feet, the width of the shank l2, particularly of the exposed portion of its butt I4, should not exceed eight inches to avoid the butt from being unduly raised by high wind pressures or velocities to such extent as to cause the locking tabs l3 of Shingles made of such material having butts of' eight inch width, exclusive of the widths of the locking tabs, and having tabs of the form and proportions shown have withstood pressures caused by wind velocities of -120 miles per hour, and even higher, without unlocking.

The dimensions stated are illustrative only and'maybe varied; without, however, varying the proportions, form, and'relationship of the several portions of the shingle as herein described.

What'Iclaimisf '1 1 n l. A single-coverage interlocking shingle of the character described, comprising a head hav-' ing parallel vertical side portions, a headlap extension on the upper edge of the head, a shank having parallel vertical side portions, said shank having a lockingt'ab at each side of 'itslower end, and an intermediate step connecting the head and s hank, saidste p having vertical side edges, the width of the head betweentheparallel vertical side portions thereof being three times the width of the shank'bet'ween its parallel vertical side portions, the width of the intermediate; step being twice the width of theshank, the height of the head exclusive of the headlap ex,-

tension being "the same as that of the shank, and

the height o'f"the'"interniediatestep being the Where the same as that of a locking tab at its vertical line of junction to the lower end of the shank.

2. A shingle as described in claim' 1 wherein the vertical side edges of the intermediate step are connected at either side of the shingle by inclined edges each of the same length, with the vertical side edge portion of the head and of the shank, respectively.

3. A shingle as described in claim 1 wherein the vertical side edges of the intermediate step are connected at either side of the shingle by curved edges, each of the same length and curvature, with the vertical side edge portions of the head and the shank respectively, the curved edge connecting the vertical side edge portion of the head and step being reversely curved with respect to the curved edge connecting the step and the vertical side edge portion of thesha'nki'.

HERBERT ABRAHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 1,441,420 Harshberger Jan. 9, 1923 1,825,576 Butterick Sept. 29, 1931 2,050,218 Abraham Aug. 4, 1936 2,444,623 Abraham July 6, 1948 2,460,353 Killingsworth Feb. 1, 1949 2,533,364 Greider et al. Dec. 12, 1950 

